Testimonials

My happy customers!

Meet Renee with her Grand Tiara harp.

We met Glen when he showcased his prototype harps, and I was impressed by his talented work - the tone and look of his sample harps.

One day my daughter Renee was asked to play in a concert and for easier transportation all she needed was a lever harp with a classical look. I contacted Glen, and he lent his Grand Imperial harp to her to use.

We agreed to build a custom harp for Renee, and throughout the building process, Glen kept me informed about his work. We had lengthy discussions on design and crafting patterns - and here comes the Grand Tiara harp with beautiful customized crafting.

It has a beautiful tone and an elegant look! We all love it!

Angela Zhang and Renee Qin

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Meet Michelle with her Tara harp.

One day I got a phone call from Michelle, a lovely lady who wanted to discuss a musical quest she had in mind. After introducing ourselves, she informed me that she was blind but had some musical background on the flute, keyboards, and drums.

During our conversation I told her that I built harps for sale, which she could not see coming into my living room. As a couple of harps were close by I let her explore them with her hands. After plucking some strings she was enthralled by the beautiful tones.

I informed her that besides piano lessons I also taught basic harp lessons to help beginners get started. She was very excited about the opportunity and lessons began. With a completely different teaching approach we made steady progress with improvised lessons, as she could not see to read music and nothing is available in Braille.

I loaned one of my previous harps for her to practice with, but one day she decided she wanted her own harp, and I built this Tara harp for her.


Here are Michelle's own words:

I have had the privilege of taking lessons with Glen for almost two years now and he is by far one of the best teachers I have ever had. He explains things using analogies that are easy to understand and he can adapt to teaching people with a variety of abilities. I have learned so much about the harp from Glen!

I myself am totally blind and have been told that learning the harp would be extremely difficult for me given that I cannot see the different colors of the strings. Glen took to teaching me much like a duck takes to water. Nothing was impossible and he had the same high expectations of me that he has for all of his students. Glen found many ways to show me the visual aspects of playing the harp in a non-visual way.

It is so wonderful to have one of Glen's harps in my life. I find the tone to be full and rounded. The instrument stays in tune nicely once it is settled, and the finish on the harps is second to none. I've never played such a good quality instrument.

Michelle

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Meet Mayu with her Grand Tiara harp.

(Photo coming soon)

My daughter Mayu was referred to Glen Cuthbertson by her harp teacher Miya Otake in Vancouver. We were surprised that Glen lived only five minutes away from us here in Chilliwack (100 km from Vancouver).

When we looked at some of the harps he built and heard their sound, Mayu was in awe. I myself have been playing the piano for 40 years and I have very sensitive hearing for tone quality, and I too was in awe of how beautiful his harp sound.

One problem we had is the size of our car, a Honda Civic hatchback. Of course a large harp would not fit into our car so we had a difficult choice to make. Do we upgrade our car at the same time for a large harp, or look for a smaller harp to fit our car which could sacrifice the quality of the sound?

Because the harp would be custom made, Glen found a compromise of building the harp just small enough to fit into our car, but big enough to still produce the beautiful deep sounds, so similar to a full pedal harp! We were so excited that he solved two problems at once! And he is always willing to help us if there is a problem like replacing a broken string, or giving us tuning tips or answering any questions we may have.

As a piano teacher and piano tuner, Glen has a very musical ear, which helps him design and build harps with exceptional sound! On top of that, his artistic talent of carving makes each harp unique for each individual.

I guarantee that anyone who has one of his harps will be very happy!

Mari Okazaki and Mayu Stoner, Chilliwack, BC

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Meet Anya with her Tara harp.

I started my harp journey with a Harpsicle years ago. It was for my therapeutic music clients in mind and the harp has captured my heart since. A few years went by, and the beauty of the instrument and its comforting sound touched me and my clients deeply. My desire has grown  to a larger harp.

My first meeting with Glen was very informative. From models, sound, budget, to suitability, Glen helped me every step of the way. I decided to have a custom made Tara harp with some jewelry that has sentimental value. When I brought the jewelry to Glen, he offered several possibilities of how and where to engrave them. I was very pleased with the final decision. Furthermore, Glen's artistic carving, painting and choices of colors to coordinate with the jewelry had me in awe.

I've been immensely enjoying my new harp. It's a pleasure of beauty, comfort to the soul, and a stronghold to the spirit.

I highly recommend Glen's fine craftsmanship and vast knowledge in building harps!

Anya

 More to come . . .